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A plan to divide California into six separate states is heading to the November Ballot. Stephanie Chuang reports. (Published Tuesday, Jul 15, 2014)

Updated at 7:06 PM EST on Tuesday, Jul 15, 2014

A campaign to put a measure that would turn California into six distinct states on the ballot has collected 1.3 million signatures, proponents said Tuesday — more than enough to put it on the 2016 ballot if they are all valid.

The news on the controversial idea came via media conference in Sacramento on Tuesday, and on the group's Twitter page. The signatures will need to be verified and certified by the secretary of state. Slightly more than 800,000 valid signatures are needed to place the measure on the ballot in two years.

The Interview With Venture Capitalist Tim Draper

There is a lot of buzz in San Mateo lately. That's because there is a new university in town. Here's the catch- it's not accredited and costs about $10K for 8 weeks. But the pay off could be golden. Raj Mathai reports. (Published Saturday, Jun 1, 2013)

With California home to 38 million people and the nation's most populated state, Draper said the state has become ungovernable and can no longer meet the needs of its citizens.

Draper has invested $5 million into his efforts to get California split into six states. And while many people have signed on to the idea, most political experts think the chance of it actually becoming reality are unlikely. The latest Field Poll showed that 59 percent of those surveyed opposed the idea.

“I’ll be voting against that ballot iniative in California," she said. "One of the great things about having a state like ours, is it’s so diverse in people, different industries and economies. I think together we’re the sum of the parts is so more than breaking up the state.”

But John Lane, also of San Francisco, didn't completely write off the idea. "It's a complex issue but an interesting one."

NBC Bay Area political consultant Larry Gerston questions the many potential pitfalls of the plan. How would water be shared among the six new states? Would the state prisons be relocated? How would students who attend University of California schools pay tuition - would they pay out-of-state rates? And would Congress really approve a plan that gave the region 12 senators instead of the current two?

"You wonder if it might pass because so many people are so fed up with government," he told NBC Bay Area in a previous interview. "And even if it only qualifies for the ballot, it still speaks volumes."

Here is how the proposal would divide the state:

Northern, rural California would become the State of Jefferson

Area from Wine Country and Sacramento to Lake Tahoe would become North California

The State of Silicon Valley would run from San Francisco to Santa Clara County

Much of the state's Central Valley would become Central California

The Los Angeles County basin would be called West California

The area from San Diego to the desert in the east would become South California